


you look so pretty (but you're gone so soon)

by alfisha



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a sad ending, Based on a Conan Gray Song, Character Death, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Song: Heather (Conan Gray), Soulmates, Tom Riddle Loves Harry Potter, Unrequited Love, heather au, sorry folks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28138107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alfisha/pseuds/alfisha
Summary: A world where unrequited love equals freezing to death; but no one's ever heard of having unrequited soulmates.Based on the song 'Heather' by Conan Gray."But you like her better... Wish I were Heather..."Tom loves Harry. But Harry... Harry loves Ginny.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Tom Riddle, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Comments: 56
Kudos: 103
Collections: Harry Potter and TMR





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> very short fic. wrote this in about an hour. its unbeta'd because i dont wanna bother dutch with this puta oneshot my scatterbrained self threw together.
> 
> a lil xmas fic, btw. cold themes etc. wow v seasonal. festive angst

“Here.” He said, and Tom looked up in surprise.

His smile was blinding, and Tom had to shield his eyes against its shine. He was holding a sweater, grey in colour and warm in temperature. Tom furrowed his eyes in confusion, and the boy laughed.

“Take it. You look so cold.” 

Tom slowly took the clothing, raising it over his head and slipping it over his arms and his chest and letting the heat of  _ him,  _ of  _ his sweater  _ wash over him.

He smiled, and Tom smiled back, although hesitantly.

“It looks better on you!” He laughed, and Tom’s cheeks reddened from the cold weather and the  _ warmth  _ of this boy.

“What’s your name?” He asked quietly, staring in awe at the figure in front of him.

“I’m Harry! Harry Potter.”

_ Harry. _

That was when the ice cold first gripped small Tom’s heart.

* * *

They became friends, after that.

Harry came to Tom on each snowy, rainy, or cloudy day, bringing cozy sweaters and warm drinks with him, and as the hot chocolates heated their hearts, so too did they to one another.

They started to trust each other. And every day in winter, they’d meet at their bench.

Until one day, when Harry was late.

Tom waited on the bench, icy hands shoved into his pockets, trying to find some reserve of warmth within the thin clothing. This was the first time Harry had been late, and he fidgeted nervously.

He tried not to worry; after all, anything could have held him up. It didn’t mean he was being abandoned. But still, Tom’s gradually warming heart became just a tad colder once again.

When Harry eventually did arrive, he carried no blankets nor sweaters. He didn’t even have an apologetic warm drink. He merely sat down next to Tom, a dreamy smile on his face. Tom nudged him, quirking an eyebrow.

“You broke the pattern.” He murmured, and Harry laughed breathily.

“Yeah, I guess I did. I did have blankets, I swear. But… I met this girl.”

Tom’s breath stuttered, and he tried not to show his hurt on his face. “Oh?”

“Yeah. She had this… gorgeous red hair. So bright, so warm, but she looked so  _ cold.  _ I couldn’t allow that, of course, so I gave her our blankets.”

“Of course.” Tom said faintly, and Harry turned to him with a grin. 

“Her name is Ginny.” He said, crossing his legs and sitting on his hands to keep them warm; he usually wouldn’t have to. “She lives near here. I invited her to come see us next time.”

Oh. The icy claws on Tom’s heart tightened, and he gasped in a breath. Harry’s eyebrows furrowed in concern, and he leaned forward, looking Tom in the eyes with such painfully beautiful green irises that Tom’s caged heart thudded rapidly.

“You’re okay with that, right?” He asked, and Tom forced a smile.

“Yes, that’s fine. I can’t wait to meet her.” He said, and Harry sat back, relieved.

“You’ll love her, Tom. She’s… She’s awesome.”

Tom nodded, staring at the ground numbly, and his chest ached as Harry moved closer to him for warmth.

* * *

“Hi! I’m Ginny. I’ve heard so much about you!” The girl said, extending a beautifully dainty hand. Tom smiled thinly, reaching out with frozen fingers to shake it, and she recoiled in shock at the chill.

“Nice to meet you, Ginny.” Tom said, and Ginny shook her head slightly as she looked at him again. She smiled, the expression lighting up her face beautifully. Harry’s eyes stayed glued to her, transfixed, and Tom’s icy heart grew impossibly colder.

“I’m sure we’ll get along amazingly!” Ginny said, and Harry nodded vehemently in agreement. Tom just huffed a laugh, his breath swirling in front of his face as he did so; Ginny frowned, and Harry didn’t notice.

* * *

It wasn’t often that someone’s soulmate didn’t love them back.

Almost unheard of.

Even if they did, most usually stayed around their soulmates and grew a platonic relationship; that was often enough to keep from dire consequences.

Tom had never read nor heard of having a soulmate that is bound to someone else.

He was going to freeze. He knew it. But whenever Harry looked to him with that gorgeously warm smile, the icicles that gripped his heart thawed a little, and Tom couldn’t help the weeds of hope that wormed their way into his brain.

It would all be for naught, in the end. 

Which was why he could not let Harry know that he was Tom’s soulmate.

Because Harry had already found someone else - someone better.

Even as the skin and flesh on his body turned pale, almost translucent, Harry was too caught up in his infatuation to notice. Tom didn’t mind, really. He knew he’d be the same. He didn’t blame Harry for any of this.

Ginny looked on in confusion as Tom told them he wouldn’t be able to meet up on cold days anymore (too cold, too dangerous), whilst Harry just nodded distractedly. She opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced by Tom's glare.

* * *

“I think there’s something wrong with Tom.” 

Harry blinked, confused, and tilted his head. “Why do you say that? He seems fine to me.”

Ginny huffed in frustration. “You never  _ see  _ him anymore. He won’t come out in the cold. I think- I think he’s freezing.”

Harry paused the circles he was rubbing on Ginny’s hand, eyebrows furrowing. “No. No, he can’t be. I’m sure he just feels like a third wheel or something stupid. Besides, Tom hasn’t even found his soulmate yet. He’d tell me if he had.”

Ginny bit her lip, and Harry pulled her closer.

“Don’t worry about Tom. I’m sure he’s fine.”

She nodded, and Harry smiled. 

Maybe Harry was right.

* * *

“Please, Tom.”

“No.”

“Maybe he’ll understand, maybe-”

“It won’t work, mother.”

“I hate seeing you like this.”

“I hate being like this - it’s not going to change anything.”

“How long did the doctor say?”

“A week.”

“My boy… my sweet boy-”

“Mother, please. I just- I just want to be alone.”

“...I understand.”

* * *

“Tom?” Harry’s voice was pixelated and muffled from phone static, but Tom could hear him all too well.

“Hey.” He croaked in return, and could practically feel the smile from the other end of the line. 

“I-I have some… news.”

“What is it?”

“It’s sort of embarrassing…”

“I promise I won’t laugh.”

“Okay, well… Ginny and I… We-we had  _ sex  _ yesterday.”

The frost on Tom’s heart dug deep, deep inside the muscle, and he cried out in pain. His mother came rushing into the room, but he shooed her away weakly, moving to sit up in his bed. He clutched his chest, and could  _ feel _ the cold as it swept its way over his body.

“Tom? You there? You promised you wouldn’t laugh!”

“I’m not laughing.” He wheezed, then was cut off with a gasp as a shoot of pain went through his kidney. 

“...Are you okay? You sound like you’re out of breath or something.” 

“I’m fine.” Tom hissed through his teeth, and the shards of ice made their way to his stomach, his lungs, his thighs. 

“You don’t sound fine.” Harry said, and Tom tuned out Merope’s sobs of grief as he doubled over on his bed. “Is that your mum? Is she okay?”

“Everything’s fine.” Tom whispered. “Just- Just promise me something, Harry.”

“What is it? You’re scaring me, Tom.” Harry asked, and he did indeed sound scared; a little too late, Tom thought, and a painful laugh forced its way out of his swelling throat.

“Don’t forget me.”

“What? Why would I-”

Merope gathered Tom in her arms, and Tom’s body lurched towards her, seeking any warmth it could find. She held him desperately tight, crying hysterically as Tom’s body shuddered and convulsed. The phone fell from Tom’s numb hands, and Merope rubbed them frantically; trying to give him  _ heat,  _ to give him  _ safety. _

Harry’s voice echoed in Tom’s ears, muffled and distant as he succumbed to the cold;

_ “It looks better on you!” _

* * *


	2. aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the requested sequel. what happened to harry after tom's death?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta'd by [dutch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsevanffs/pseuds/itsevanffs) . thanks love.  
> shorter than the last one, because i have zero braincells.

The funeral was a sombre event.

Harry barely felt the death grip Ginny had on his arm, he barely heard the guttural sobs of Merope Gaunt, and he barely saw them lower the casket into the ground through his empty tears… They mixed with the rain, anyway.

The event must have lasted hours; Harry wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he had never felt as cold as he did then.

Ginny tugged on his arm, and he looked at her numbly. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her makeup falling in streaks down her face, and her once hot and fiery hair lay in damp strings on her shoulders.

“You couldn’t have done anything.” She told him, and Harry dropped his gaze to the floor. 

But he _could_ have.

He was angry.

He was so, _so_ angry. 

Why didn’t Tom _say_ anything? If he had, they could have sorted something, they could have found some way to fix everything.

But he hadn’t.

And now Tom was gone.

* * *

Harry didn’t leave his room for weeks.

Lily stood outside his door, listening for any signs of movement. 

Nothing.

She opened the door slowly, wincing at the sight of her son, draped across his bed. The room stank, and there were old plates of untouched food and laundry strung across the floor. She tried to smile, and Harry opened his eyes to look at her.

“Have you spoken to Ginny recently?” She asked lightly, picking up a nearby plate.

Harry shook his head, and Lily noticed the frost gathering beneath his neck. She frowned, walking closer. Harry flinched.

“Darling, what’s wrong with your neck?” She asked, and Harry shifted to move beneath his covers.

“Nothing.” He croaked, and Lily tutted.

“Don’t be daft, I saw something. You either show me or I force you to.”

Harry sighed, sitting up in bed. He pulled off his T-Shirt, revealing…

“Oh, baby…” Lily murmured, running her fingers across the swirly trails of ice decorating her son’s neck and chest. “How… How are you still…”

She didn’t know how to finish her sentence, but Harry understood.

_How are you still alive?_

“It won’t let me go.” He rasped, and Lily’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean, honey?”

“I’m going to stay like this. It’s my punishment.”

Oh.

Lily shook her head, retracting her hand as though she’d been burned. “No, that’s impossible. There will be a treatment. There has to be. We’re going to the doctor.”

No matter how much Harry protested, Lily’s mind was made up. She’d do anything to save her boy.

* * *

“What does it mean, Doctor?”

The balding man sat back in his chair, shaking his head in bewilderment.

“I… I’ve no idea.”

Lily glanced at her son on the other side of the glass, lying on the cold table all alone. “You must have some idea!” She hissed, looking back to him. “What’s happening to him?”

“It seems as though he’s… freezing.”

“Yes, I think we can all see that.” Lily said sarcastically, and the doctor winced. “Do something! There must be some sort of treatment, or cure, or-”  
  
“Mrs Potter.” The doctor interrupted, and for the first time, Lily saw how exhausted he looked. “There is nothing we can do for your son. He will not die of this, but he will not live happily, either. It is just how the Fates decide.”

Lily balled her fists. She would not allow herself to cry here. Not now, not when her boy needed her. Later, when she was alone with James, maybe. But not now.

* * *

“I told you they wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

“Shh… You’ll be okay. There’s always a way.”

“Not this time, Mum.”

* * *

Harry didn’t mind the cold.

Even as his fingers and toes lost their feeling, even as he felt the icicles around his heart tightening and tightening more than they should, he couldn’t bring himself to mind.

Tom went through this. He went through all of this and worse, and yet he kept smiling for Harry. 

He knew he wouldn’t die. Not from the cold, anyway. Perhaps a sickness, or if he were given the special injection when his parents couldn’t cope anymore, but he knew that no matter how cold he got, it would never kill him.

How could it? To kill him would be to release him from this pain, and he knew that the Fates didn’t want that. He’d rejected a soulmate, however unknowingly, and he was going to pay.

He didn’t mind.

* * *

Ginny was losing her mind.

She stayed beside Harry on his bed, massaging his hands - perhaps if she rubbed hard enough, she’d be able to coax some warmth back into them. 

Those green eyes she’d loved more than anything else stared vacantly at the ceiling, and no matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t find a single trace of life in them.

The eyes that once held all the secrets of the universe were now empty. 

Ginny cursed the warmth in her heart. How could she still be okay? Why was she not suffering as much as he was? How dare she be allowed to stay warm, when Harry was laying still as a statue in his bed?

She dropped the hand she’d been rubbing, and left the room.

She couldn’t do this anymore.

* * *

_Watch as she stands with her, holding your hand_

_Put your arm 'round her shoulder, now I'm getting colder_

_But how could I hate her, she's such an angel_

_But then again, kinda wish she were dead._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just gonna say it.  
> i hate writing sequels.  
> this was such a drag to write. i absolutely love that people like my writing enough to want more, but.. unless im super invested in the story, i wont be taking sequel requests in the future. writing takes time and effort and i just dont want to waste it on something i couldnt really care less about, you know? with my writing, i like to post it then forget about it. the reason i mainly do oneshots is that i like them to be ONE chapter. it's better for me. otherwise, i feel like im dragging it out for no reason.  
> anyways. hope u enjoyed.

**Author's Note:**

> read my other shit, and follow my tumblr: https://alfiisha.tumblr.com/


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